Lady in Waiting
by StarvingLunatic
Summary: A side story to the Queen and Her Lady. See Lady's side of the story.


I don't own these characters. ABC/Disney owns them.

A/N: this idea is brought to you by jessie901121, who wanted a one-shot of Lady's POV from The Queen and Her Lady. It was tough goings as I have never written a story from a dog's POV before, but I hope it works.

This is un-beta'ed, so expect mistakes and they unfortunately all belong to this Lunatic.

Lady in Waiting

It was cold. Bone-chilling cold. Adding to that, it was dark and lonely. Moving was not an option. It was as if her paws had fallen off, which was not a bad thing considering before that her paws were in serious pain. She had tried licking one particular paw to soothe it, but it stung worse with each pass of her tongue, so she learned to leave it be. The paw throbbed a bit more than the other ones, but she managed to stay away from it.

Her body refused to do anything beyond tremble as the wind practically whipped her, like the air knew she had been bad. Scared did not begin to cover what she felt, unsure of what was going to happen to her. She wanted to go to sleep and just forget that everything was around her, but she was too frightened to drift off, thinking she might wake up to new horrors. So, she curled into herself, wanting some kind of comfort and shield from being alone.

As the world seemed to fade, sights and smells all gone from existence. And then, suddenly, it was not so cold anymore and there was a smell close by. It held a near stench of the frost and isolation, but underneath that was a warm spice and she curled into it, wanting to bury herself in this strange aroma, in this beautiful warmth. The rhythmic sound of a heartbeat helped sooth down some of her anxiety, somehow promising that things would improve now. The press of the secure body and gentle rise and fall of whatever she was against was enough to make her feel like succumbing to sleep, but she was curious – her failing.

When lights suddenly appeared, she flinched and tucked herself closer to this secure form. The shine bothered her eyes and she quickly shut them in the hope of saving them. She whined as she felt slightly warmer, not by much, but still better. The light seemed to be beaming, but it was more pleasing the eternal darkness that had accompanied the powerful cold. And then, it got dark again, but much hotter. Yelping a bit, she managed to dig her way out of what she knew was a blanket and came face to face with a new human.

Before she could process what was happening, the human waved a hand over her and she felt funny for a moment. It did not last long, but then pain shot through her body as the new human lifted her up, moving her. She whined, loudly. The human spoke, but she had no idea what the words made. The sound, though, was soft and soothing, but that did not stop the pain. Sneezing, she wiggled to get free, which did not work and it was tiring. She fell asleep, not sure if she got free or not.

Upon waking, she found that everything was black, but it smelled nice and was not cold. Still, being in the dark was not good, so she wiggled and twisted, trying to get out of the heavy darkness. Whining, she found that she was not making any progress and then suddenly the darkness was gone; a blanket had covered her. It was that human that had rescued her once again. She liked this human and wasted no time cuddling into the human when she was picked up.

She noted that human smelled somewhat different before, better, but it was not a real scent. The other odor of desolation and rime clung to the human's bones, but it did bother her. There was a strange comfort even in that.

In fact, she did not want this human out of her sight. She stuck close and cried whenever the human vanished. Crying seemed to work, always getting that caring person to come back, so she thought that she was doing something right. She held her head high as she followed this dear person everywhere she went. And then the human smiled at her and she wanted jump up and down, but her body was too hurt for that. Still, she felt bigger suddenly. She really liked this human.

There was another smile and some talking. She had no idea what this human was saying, but she liked the sound of her voice and the compassionate expression. So, she barked and that seemed to be the right thing because the human picked her up again. She wasted no time curling into the soft, pleasant-smelling person. She could just fall asleep right here in the human's arms, but that did not seem to be in the plan.

The human put her down on a nice cushion, but she wanted to be close to the human, not on some cushion. So, she got up and whined, wanting to go back to the human, who picked her up and returned her to the cushion. She did not like it a second time either, nor the third. She was not sleeping more than a paw's length away from the human that brought her in from the dark and cold and made everything better! Crying had worked before, so she cried and eventually got her way. She was sleeping next to this human. In fact, she was not going to let this human out of her smell range ever again if possible.

-8-8-8-8-

Inside the house, she had figured out a few things after spending plenty of time with her human. The one she was most proud of was that she learned her name was Lady. It was a nice name, said softly most of the time with tender affection that wrapped around her like her person's kind arms. She had not figured out what the human was called yet, but she was Lady and her human seemed to smile every time she said. This was good and this was home.

Since this was home, she felt the need to explore it. She wanted to know everything about it and everything around it. At first, she followed her human everywhere to get an idea about the place. As she became more comfortable, she wandered out of her human's sight every now and then, wanting to know more about the house, _her_ house.

Every now and then, while exploring, she would get struck or trapped. As she had learned her first day in the house, whining was the key to becoming safe and secure. No matter where she was when she got into a spot, if she let out a few cries, her human would call her name and, as long as she answered, eventually her human would find her. Not only find her, but also cuddle her. Sure, the snuggles came with some stern words, but she could stop the almost-hard sounds with a few licks to her human's face or even gentle nips to her human's fingers, showing her gratitude in being saved. Sometimes, she could even get a smile with such behavior.

Of course, sometimes this desire to rush off and find out more about her new home got her into some trouble early on. She ran into some weird invisible door after her human showed her the outside and seemed to be walking out there. She wanted to be with her human, so she had charged forward and slammed into nothing from what she could see.

Truthfully, she had no desire to be outside again, especially after that cold dark tried to put her to sleep, but she knew that her human would not let that happen again. Her human could make dark and cold go away with a wave of her hand, after all. Her human could also make fluffy white stuff disappear.

She could not figure out why with such a powerful human seemed so sad like her human did. She smelled of sorrow and sometimes when she spoke, her voice did funny things that made Lady nuzzle her because she wanted that smile back, that shine in her eyes, and all around pleasant aroma that came from her human if only briefly when her human forgot whatever troubled her. Sometimes, it took a lot of nuzzling, though.

Every now and then, something new happened around the house that made her curious again, like a weird bell-chime-thing noise. Lady was not sure where it came from, but barked, hoping it would answer, so she could find it. Plus, it made her human really happy, so she could find it and make it chime more often and then her human would always be happy.

Her human went to the door that they did not really use and Lady followed. Her human might be helping her find the noise or showing her some new awesome place around the house. Before she could see where the door led, her human blocked her path with her foot. Lady was not to be stopped, though, wanting to see where the door went, especially since it made her human's scent change. There was something beyond sorrow coming from her human now and she wanted to make it go away. If she could see what was beyond the door, she might be able to help her fabulous human.

Then, a new human walked in and the door shut. Lady had to whine because she wanted to know what was beyond the door and because it might get her picked up. She was not comfortable with this new, taller human in the house. The humans spoke and her human seemed upset by this new one's presence. Her scent changed again and despair covered her human like a thick cloud. Lady growled, not liking this new person because messed up her human's mood … not that her human seemed really happy before of course.

The new human did not flinch at the sound, but Lady continued growling anyway. She would get this threat away from her kind person if it were the last thing she did. If her human could protect her, then she could do the same. Her human and the new one talked, but she did not understand. Still, she was on alert and ready to attack should that new one try something.

Of course, that went out of the window when her human opened a door that had been forbidden to her since she came into the house. It had a new smell that she could not place. It was not unpleasant, but very different from her human. It was the scent of another person, but not this new one.

The new one smelled of earth and … sweetness, possibly flowers or nectar. The room, however, had an aroma of wood and paper. She wanted to sniff everything, take in this new place, and understand it in the grand scheme of things. She needed to know every inch of her domain, and how long it would take her human to get there if she ever found herself trapped in or under something.

Her human did not allow her to inspect much, telling her "no" and moving her out of the way of things. She had come to understand "no" just as quickly as she understood her name. She disliked "no" and sometimes continued to try things because the most her human would do was move her. Other times, she moved on herself and just stuck close to her human. Now was one of the times that she did the latter because her human was doing things, moving items, and she wanted to see what everything was, every move her person made.

Besides, her human smelled so very sad and distraught while doing this. Her human needed her close. Whining, she got some attention, but never got a smile out of her human while they were in the new room. Lady blamed the room and the new human. Clearly, they were not good things and she did not want them around her human.

Her human picked her up when they were out of the room and then the other one started talking. Her human's tone was not friendly and seemed almost a little scared, so Lady disliked this new one even more for whatever she was doing to make her kind person feel so bad. Once the new one was gone, Lady made sure to give her human plenty of attention, nuzzling her and cuddling into her, trying to lift her spirits. It earned her some pets and kisses, but her human seemed down for the rest of the day.

The other human showed up other times. Lady was not sure what to make of this human that smelled of earth and spring. Whenever she showed up, Lady's human seemed sad, but the new one did not seem particularly bad or mean. The weird chime noise always alerted Lady whenever the new human was going to come in and Lady knew to stand between the new human and her loved one, just in case. The noise also let her know that the door her human never let her go through was going to open.

She really wanted to know what was behind that door, but she could not get through. Her human held her back and the other human always came into the house quickly. Lady was determined, though. She would see what they were hiding. She got really close one day, but then her human had squeaked her duck and she had to go after the duck before anything else because that duck might get away if she did not go after it immediately. After that, her human started caressing her and she forgot all about doors until the next time she had the chime.

She was getting to know the other human pretty well thanks to that chime and the fact that neither human would let her out of the door. After a while, she liked when the other human showed up. She could play a game of trying to get by them. Plus, it was clear that the other one was not trying to harm her human, even if her human got sad when the other left. It was through the other human that she was able to figure out her human was called Regina and she was pretty sure the other one was Miss Swan.

One time the bell went off and then another human was at the door. This one was much shorter than Miss Swan and did not smell as nice. This one smelled like the room upstairs where the door was always shut unless the humans were going in it. This one was also able to open the door without the aid of her human. It was strange. Regina was holding her and she wiggled, wanting to get out of the door while it was open, but that thought escaped her as she felt anxiety rising in her human. She turned her attention to the new short one and growled at the human.

The humans exchanged words before the short one charged upstairs, upset about something. Regina said something to her, but Lady understood the tone more than anything and the odor of sorrow engulfing Regina. She touched Regina with her nose and whined a bit, hoping to lift her spirits. Regina rubbed her head, but that did not held Regina's mood. This new short human disturbed Regina more than anything Lady had to deal with and she did not like that.

She could hear the short one moving upstairs and coming back toward them. She would greet him and show him that he could not just upset Regina while she was around. She growled and barked at him, warning him away from Regina. He heeded the warning as far as she could tell, not coming close to Regina. He spoke, though, and that only upset Regina more, so Lady barked at him as loud as she could, letting him know it was time to leave. If he did not go, she would not hesitate to attack.

He opened the door and Lady found herself distracted. She could smell the outside and there was something moving beyond the door. She needed to see what it was. She needed to know every inch of the place and she had been dying to go through that door forever as far as she was concerned.

There was so much space! She needed to explore everything. Vaguely, she heard Regina call to her, but she needed to see what everything was. Eventually, Regina would come and get her, like always. Until then, she needed to smell and nibble everything to figure out what it was!

When water came out of the sky, it was time to go home. It was getting cold, too. Unfortunately, she could not find her way as the cold water washed away her scent trail. Calling out, she figured it was only a matter of time for Regina to find her. She knew that occasionally it took time for Regina to locate her, so she searched for some place dry while making sure to keep crying out. Eventually, Regina would come for her because Regina was always there. Always.

Soon, she was soaked, cold, and hungry. Shaking, she tried to dry her damp fur, but it only did so much. She was not sure what to do about food. Regina took care of that, making sure that just as she was about to get hungry, there was food in front of her. There was also no time while she was with Regina that she felt cold. She whined louder, hoping that her human heard.

As hunger gripped her more and the water stopped pouring out of the sky, she tasted a lot of different things, only to find out that they were not food. Some of them, she swallowed. Sometimes, it took away the hunger a bit, but other times, it hurt her stomach and she would cough it up.

The cold cut through her, even as she found random places to try to fight the chill. She missed Regina's arms and chest and overall warmth. The soothing sound of Regina's heartbeat and voice seemed to be beyond her, no matter how certain she was that her human would find her. Trembling, the world started to melt together and she was not sure what was going on. She never saw the crater coming and there was no escape. Only Regina could save her now.

Regina would come. She just had to make sure her human heard her. She needed noises to follow. So, Lady never stopped crying out, even when she felt tired and just wanted to sleep, even when her body ached. She cried, even as her throat throbbed. She cried. Regina would come.

Lady had no concept of time, but it seemed like forever had past since she left her house, not knowing she was actually leaving her home. But, she heard a squeak. Her ducky. Regina! She barked and the ducky squeaked again.

Arms came down into the hole and Lady knew instantly that it was not Regina. Turning, she tried to escape before some other horrible thing could happen, but it was all for naught. A hand drew near, but did not touch her. She got a chance to sniff and realized that she knew this human. It was Miss Swan. Looking directly at the human, she let out a long whine. Miss Swan said some things that Lady did not understand, but her voice was calm and reassuring. She picked Lady up and held her close, which was all she needed. Right then and there she decided that she liked this human. She liked Miss Swan very much.

Miss Swan wrapped her in what was like a mini-blanket, like it had been made for her. Best of all, it smelled like Miss Swan. She had not felt this comfortable since she was last in Regina's arms, which was where she wanted to be right now. She needed to know why Regina had not been the one to find her when she cried like always.

She knew Regina was close by before they even entered the house through the door that she now hated. She could smell Regina, but something was wrong. When Regina took her in her arms, she could still feel the same warmth and affection, but Regina smelled of decay, like she was rotting in her skin. Lady did not like that, scared that it might mean something was wrong with her human.

Regina cleaned her and made her feel better, so now she needed to return the favor. But, Miss Swan stuck around and seemed to lift Regina, if only a little. Lady was happy and curled into Regina while she spoke with the other human. She was asleep in no time only to wake up in the dark without Regina. The room smelled of her human, but she wanted the actual woman, not the ghost of her aroma. So, she whined, waiting to see if Regina would answer her cries.

It worked as always. Regina was with her, holding her, loving her, and keeping her safe. She was fed and given a treat. She was home.

-8-8-8-8-

Things got a little weird with Regina after Lady got back home. Regina wanted to take her through that damned door again and out into that horrible, cold Hell. Well, she was not interested in that, even with Regina. That place might actually be dangerous to Regina since she never went out and Miss Swan had to come get Lady when she stupidly wandered out there. To Hell with that.

But, Regina sounded so sure and looked so loving. Lady took tentative steps to her human, needing to make sure nothing was about to hurt Regina out there or hurt her. Everything looked fine and Regina was still standing, even after being on the other side of the door for a while. She decided to trust Regina, who had not steered her wrong yet. And, it proved to be a good decision. With Regina by her side and a line that kept them together to make sure Regina did not vanish, she learned that beyond the door was actually pretty awesome.

When they returned home, the chime thing rang and Lady jumped up. It was probably Miss Swan, who she would love to see again. She did not race to the door, not going near that thing without Regina or Miss Swan right next to her. Instead, it was the short human that left the door open before, like he wanted her to run out there and almost lose Regina. This human was not a friend and she disliked this one.

She ducked behind Regina while Regina spoke to the short one. She felt like she should go hide before he did something else to almost kill her, but she felt safest next to her human. If he wanted to try something else, he would have to go through Regina to do it.

Suddenly, Regina picked her up and held her close, which she liked even more than hiding behind Regina. She would like to see this little one try something while Regina was cuddling her. Regina leaned down, holding her tight, but giving her a chance to inspect the short one. She sniffed, smelling the familiar scent of wood and paper, but not enjoying it. While she was not scared of him since Regina was there, she did not want to bother with him.

Regina seemed to have other ideas, though. She held Lady there while the short one put his hand out. Lady nudged his fingers, wanting to see if he would try anything. Just as she suspected, he would not dare try anything with Regina standing right there.

Miss Swan also dropped by, but by then the little one was gone. She learned to like Miss Swan even more when she started dropping pieces of chicken on the floor. She was definitely Lady's second favorite human now, even though she got the feeling that Regina did not really like the chicken being fed to her. She ate it anyway. Chicken was good.

Miss Swan even joined them on walks, as Lady learned they were called. At first, they walked through brush and woods, which was fine because she liked the smell and the new things, but then they started traveling through populated areas. She saw other humans, but they did not interest her much. She was quickly learning that Regina and Miss Swan were the best humans because they did not make mean faces, shout things, or run away.

An especially big human had gotten into Regina's face on a walk. Lady would have protected her, but Miss Swan took care of it, standing with Regina to bark at the bigger human. Lady did not care how big the human was, she would face it down for Regina, but thankfully that was not necessary. Miss Swan was right there. Miss Swan was really great.

The walking thing was good. She liked the outside and she liked being with Regina and Miss Swan. She walked ahead of them sometimes, just to explore things and they allowed it. Whenever something scary or weird happened, she could duck behind them and they would take care of things. She liked being able to be with them and learn new things.

But, when the short human that smelled like paper joined them, she felt like it was too much. He kept trying to walk ahead of her and ahead of her humans. He was not leader of their pack, so he needed to get in the back. She trotted in front of him, letting him know that he was not in charge. The only time she moved was when something spooked her and she needed Regina to be in front of her to let her know everything was all right.

After the walk, she learned something else awesome about Miss Swan. Miss Swan liked to play. Regina would play to a degree where she would throw things for Lady to retrieve, but she would not usually move beyond petting her approval when Lady brought things back. Lady was fine with that, but Miss Swan brought a lot more energy to things. The only problem was that she tried to include the short one.

Lady did not want to play with the short one and did not want the short one to think that he could play. She got close to him to show that she was not scared of him, not with Miss Swan right there anyway, but she would not play with him. She was happy when he left, even though he took Miss Swan with him. But, it was not the last she would see of Miss Swan. Plus, they seemed to make Regina a little happier. She had a pleased aroma that wafted from her when they were around.

-8-8-8-8-

Regina picked her up, which was unusual when they went for a walk. It was also a little weird for it to be just the two of them, but it was not unheard of. She actually liked it that way. It gave her a chance to reaffirm that Regina was hers first. Regina was her human, no matter what Miss Swan might think.

They ended up in a new place. Lady smelled another dog before they got to the door and she growled as soon as she saw it, especially when they big brute approached Regina. He paused and growled back. Lady was not to be put off and barked at him until he got the idea that this was her human. She was not going to let anything near Regina, even if that thing was bigger than she was. She would not back down.

The brute's human called him back and he listened, whining a bit in retreat. Lady growled at him once more for him to understand that he had better stay over there. Regina laughed and cooed while rubbing Lady's head, trying to settle her down. Lady would be fine as long as that lummox knew his place.

They started to see this idiot and his human whenever they walked alone. Lady got used to it, but only because dolt understood that she sat in Regina's lap the whole time. He might be able to get close to Regina to where Regina could pet him and if Lady was feeling generous she would let him rest his chin on Regina's knee, but nothing more. Some days, she did not even want Regina petting him, just to reinforce who was in charge.

They saw each other in another new place, a food shop from what she could tell. Regina had petted the oaf and he dared to revel in it in front of her. Lady growled at Regina first because Regina should know not to show him that kind of attention or he might think something stupid, like he could get closer to Regina. She put him in his place again with some snarling and then licked Regina to show him once more that she was first with Regina. Regina was hers.

-8-8-8-8-

After a while, things got much better. Regina seemed happier. She smelled much better, not that her scent was awful before or anything. Sure, there were more people in the house more often, even that little one – Henry, she believed he was called – but, Regina just seemed brighter. For Lady, that was enough.

She even learned to get along with Henry because he made Regina's whole demeanor lighten up. Her human clearly liked this one, so she would try her best to like him, too. He was most tolerable when Miss Swan was around. She knew he would not try something when Miss Swan was there.

Other things she was learning, Miss Swan had several other names. Sometimes, Regina called her "Sheriff." Other times, Regina and Henry called her "Emma." It had to be confusing to have three names. Lady recalled having trouble figuring out just her one, but Miss Swan seemed to have a handle on it. She definitely liked being called "Emma" best of all, probably because Regina said that one with in a gentle, almost cooing tone most of the time.

The more Miss Swan and Henry came over, the more Lady got used to them. Her favorite time – beyond when Miss Swan sneaked her food – was when they all cuddled on the couch. She liked those times best of all because Regina seemed so at peace. Henry started sneaking her food, too, and she learned to like him, to the point where she rested on him from time to time. He was not so scary at all anymore. Still, Regina would always be her favorite human, no matter what. Everything was calm and warm and happy.

Well, until they took her to this thing called a vet. As it turned out a vet was a crazy human with wild hair that poked and prodded her with things. With Regina and Miss Swan standing right there even! And they did not even try to stop her! Sure, they bought her some toys and stuff when it was over, but that did not make up for the fact that they stood there and did nothing while some strange human touched her! Still, Regina remained her favorite human and Miss Swan came in a distant second … for a while.

-8-8-8-8-

Regina was her least favorite human on the planet! First, she tried to keep Lady away from her chosen mate until Emma – the "Miss Swan" designation seemed long forgotten unless Emma did something bad – and Henry managed to talk Regina into keeping her mate. Everything seemed fine for a while, even though Emma sometimes tried to lock her and her mate out of the bedroom. Those times were bad, especially since Regina did not immediately let her back into the room, especially when she could hear sounds of distress. Emma was supposed to protect Regina, but it did not sound like she was. Of course, the smell in the room when they finally opened the door told a tale and the smell somewhat bothered her, but she would still rather sleep in the room with her humans, even though they were being particularly mean lately.

Things actually got worse when she had puppies. And Regina gave them away! Just gave the puppies away! This was worse than when Regina and Emma let that Ruby person … dog … something! … into the house when they were gone. Ruby was confusing and it always messed with her head when Ruby showed up, but this was a million times worse than Ruby.

She loved her puppies, especially little Colette, who had figured out that Regina was really great. Regina had given them such pretty names and cuddled them with such great care. Then she had just passed them along. Lady never would have thought Regina would give up her puppies. Regina never gave away things she cared about. It meant that one day Regina could just give her away. The thought did not sit well. Actually, it was terrifying because she still remembered the cold, freezing dark Regina had pulled her from and she did not want to go back. She did not want her puppies there either.

Of course, when the puppies were gone, Regina did not seem like she was going to be culling the household further. She actually seemed to beg Lady's forgiveness with treats and toys. She often tried to cuddle Lady, but Lady was in no mood for it. Regina was not going to get back into her good graces. Hopefully, Emma and Henry would keep Regina from getting rid of anyone else.

After some time, Regina took her to visit her pups and they seemed to have a good life and they were happy. They grew big and strong. Humans around them were kind and petted them often. She saw Collette the most often and Collette was definitely pleased with her home. So, maybe Regina had done the right thing.

Either way, it was hard to go for long without having Regina cradle her. So, eventually, she forgave the woman and lay in her lap. Besides, she had to get her cuddles in before nightfall. At night, apparently, Regina actually belonged to Emma, if the amount of growling meant anything anyway.

-8-8-8-8-

The end.

I hope you enjoyed the short tale. I'm going back to my cell, but I shall return with other stories. I hope you come back.

Commercial break: if you find you like my writing, check out my book Scarred for Life under the name SL Kassidy. It's available on Amazon, iBooks, the Nook, and other ereaders.


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